
Paris, 2001—Fresh from six years of UN peacekeeping, most of it in Africa, where dance was woven into every gathering, I returned to the City of Light with the itch to dance still pulsing in my veins. That summer, my Franco-Bolivian friend, Karine Boulanger, after a salsa class, said, "Have you tried tango? Check out Espace Oxygène." That’s where I found Claudia Rosenblatt and, separately, Imed Chemam, assistanted at times by the luminous María Filali.
For the next twelve months, I was possessed. Every night that I could was consumed by classes, practicas, and, as my confidence grew, milongas. A perennial traveler, of course, I had to see the real thing. When in 2022 I announced my plan to spend the summer months in Buenos Aires, my Paris friends thought I was mad. Who willingly endures the brutal Paris winter only to fly into the Southern Hemisphere's most frosty months?
At Pilar Segura’s tango guesthouse, one evening Javier Rodríguez grilled an asado for us. There I also met Raúl Poli, a seasoned milonguero. For two months he trained me—three two-hour lessons a week. I sought out other masters as well: Julio Balmaceda in Boedo and Pablo Nieves in the city center to name two.
Back in Paris, Chicho Frumboli had arrived, and I absorbed what I could from his classes.
Upon returning from my 2003 trip to Buenos Aires the next year, I found Sebastián Arce and Mariana Montes, - a revelation! - who became my maestros for two years.
The rhythm of my life became clear: tango class, tango practice, milonga, work permitting, in Paris, and a few months a year in Buenos Aires. In 2005-06, The Hague, I took up work at the ICC, which opened new doors to the tango scenes of surrounding cities. Nijmegen stood out—a place that, to me, pioneered what we now call tango “marathons.”
In 2007, I finally dared the leap and moved to Buenos Aires. Days blurred into afternoons of practice, evenings of classes, and nights at the milongas. I was a kid in a candy shop, the world's best tango teachers were always around!
The day after Christmas 2012, alas, my dear father passed away. I returned to California to be with family and return to my profession of conference interpreter. (My funds were running out!)
From 2013 to 2025, while living near San Francisca, I return to BA occasionally to take privates. I dance socially (social dancing is a different skill set from show dancing) and practice three times a week with one of the San Francisco area’s top dancers, Rochelle Diodati.
A partial list of my tango instructors is on this page.
For the next twelve months, I was possessed. Every night that I could was consumed by classes, practicas, and, as my confidence grew, milongas. A perennial traveler, of course, I had to see the real thing. When in 2022 I announced my plan to spend the summer months in Buenos Aires, my Paris friends thought I was mad. Who willingly endures the brutal Paris winter only to fly into the Southern Hemisphere's most frosty months?
At Pilar Segura’s tango guesthouse, one evening Javier Rodríguez grilled an asado for us. There I also met Raúl Poli, a seasoned milonguero. For two months he trained me—three two-hour lessons a week. I sought out other masters as well: Julio Balmaceda in Boedo and Pablo Nieves in the city center to name two.
Back in Paris, Chicho Frumboli had arrived, and I absorbed what I could from his classes.
Upon returning from my 2003 trip to Buenos Aires the next year, I found Sebastián Arce and Mariana Montes, - a revelation! - who became my maestros for two years.
The rhythm of my life became clear: tango class, tango practice, milonga, work permitting, in Paris, and a few months a year in Buenos Aires. In 2005-06, The Hague, I took up work at the ICC, which opened new doors to the tango scenes of surrounding cities. Nijmegen stood out—a place that, to me, pioneered what we now call tango “marathons.”
In 2007, I finally dared the leap and moved to Buenos Aires. Days blurred into afternoons of practice, evenings of classes, and nights at the milongas. I was a kid in a candy shop, the world's best tango teachers were always around!
The day after Christmas 2012, alas, my dear father passed away. I returned to California to be with family and return to my profession of conference interpreter. (My funds were running out!)
From 2013 to 2025, while living near San Francisca, I return to BA occasionally to take privates. I dance socially (social dancing is a different skill set from show dancing) and practice three times a week with one of the San Francisco area’s top dancers, Rochelle Diodati.
A partial list of my tango instructors is on this page.
Rochelle and David

Ariela and David, practicing for event.
Dancing with Pepa, group bus trip to BA outskirts.
|
Pepa Palazon and David at group bus trip to outskirts of Buenos Aires
|
|
I am a social tango dancer. When I competed, or did a show, it's because my partner asked me to do it with her. Here Lan Mong invited me to perform at the Metropol, San Francisco, 2014.
|
|